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For the last couple of weeks I’ve featured sister brands Sandro and Maje. Evelyne Chetrite and her husband founded the former in 1984 and her sister, Judith Milgrom, created her Maje brand in 1986. Ilan Chetrite, Evelyne’s son, later set up Sandro Homme, a men’s ready-to-wear brand.
The story continues
In 2009, the sisters acquired the Claudie Pierlot brand, after the death of its founder of the same name, which led to the creation of the SMCP group in 2010. An umbrella holding company for the three not too dissimilar brands, to aid their plans for overseas expansion, particularly in US and China.
To fund this expansion, the original shareholders sold a majority holding (51%) to L Capital (LVMH) and Florac. The remaining 49% was held by Evelyne Chetrite, Judith Milgrom, Elie Kouby and Frederic Biousse. In 2013, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. acquired 70% of SMCP and Daniel Lalonde, formerly of LVMH and Ralf Lauren, became CEO of the SMCP group.
KKR was planning to float its holding in 2016 but instead accepted an offer from European TopSoho, the Luxembourg subsidiary of Chinese group Shandong Ruyi Technology Group. This conglomerate based in Jining employed around 30,000 people, had more than ten clothing factories, 3,000 points of sale and generated 4 billion dollars in turnover; it specialised in subcontracting to brands similar to those of SMCP.
The following year SMCP filed its IPO with Euronext Paris giving it a value of around US$2 billion. Largely as a consequence of SMCP’s 16% increase in turnover to just under US$1 billion. Thanks to a global e-commerce presence and a network of 1,223 stores, international sales now accounted for over half its business.
At the time of the IPO, Lalonde stated:
This success confirms the relevance of our business model and strategy that aims to pursue organic growth, expand our network in our key markets, accelerate on digital, menswear and accessories.
At the end of 2019, the group announced the acquisition of De Fursac, a French men’s ready-to-wear brand founded in 1973.
But our story doesn’t end there. Shandong Ruyi had wanted to become the Chinese LVMH and had started purchasing labels in 2015, a buying spree that would see it acquire London-based suitmaker Aquascutum, Savile Row tailor Gieves & Hawkes, Paris-based fashion house Cerruti 1881 and SMCP.
But it struggled under the weight of debts resulting from those acquisitions and defaulted on some bonds, exchangeable into SMCP shares, which resulted in a group of bondholders, including asset manager BlackRock and an affiliate of private equity firm Carlyle, becoming the largest (albeit unwilling) shareholders. These unwilling shareholders have succeeded in ousting all of Shandong Rui’s former associates from the board of SMCP and prevented it from transferring its remaining holding to an offshore vehicle.
At the end of a tumultuous 18-month period, Daniel Lalonde stepped down as CEO, a role now assumed by the former CEO of Maje, Isabelle Guichot. At the company’s most recent AGM, she advised that despite the upheavals over ownership, performance has continued to improve despite numerous constraints related to Covid-19 resurgences around the world (resulting in both store closures and a strong impact on mobility and traffic), enabling SMCP to be back on a par with its pre-pandemic activity levels.
I suspect that the on-going involvement of the group’s original founders and some long-standing, experienced management has helped the group weather the storm.
Such involvement has also allowed the management team to influence the group’s commitments and values.
More than ever, our actions are aimed at fostering a responsible, ethical fashion industry, in line with our values. As a driving force in accessible luxury, season after season, we strive to make Parisian chic sustainable by developing increasingly desirable and responsible collections while protecting the Planet and People.
In line with this vision, in late 2020, the group joined the UN Global Compact.
All images courtesy of SMCP


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Elon Musk faces skeptics as Tesla gets ready to unveil 'Optimus' robot
The robot business eventually may be worth more than Tesla's car revenue, according to Elon Musk.
Stocks in the news: Delhivery, Venus Pipes, Maruti, BEL, Zomato and Marico
Adani Ports, Grasim, Info Edge, Minda Industries, Phoenix Mills, Ipca Labs, Bayer Cropscience, Bank of India, KIOCL, Shree Renuka Sugars, Metropolis and Aster DM are among the companies which will announce their March quarter earnings today.
Agritech firm DeHaat acquires majority stake Y-Cook India
Y-Cook India is backed by investors such as Omnivore Partners, Oikocredit and 021 capital, among others. Oikocredit and 021 Capital will exit through this transaction, while Omnivore, which is also an investor in DeHaat, will swap its equity, the company said.
LG Electronics introduces a new lineup of AI-powered Home Appliances and Air Conditioners for the Indian market
LG launches a new range of AI powered products, specially targeting the Indian audience, in the market.
Pandemic helped Toch.ai co-founder discover the inner cook, experiment with Indian dishes
Vinayak Shrivastav said he is still exploring the new version of himself.
Builder.ai co-founder's morning routine for productivity: Playing tennis, learning Japanese & taking piano lessonsSachin Dev Duggal skips outside food and makes healthy version of his favourite dishes at home.
Tim Cook, Elon Musk among TIME Magazine's 100 most influential techies of 2021“Apple stock has gone up 1,000%, making it the most valuable company in the world” during Tim Cook’s decade as CEO. While Elon Musk, with his SpaceX and Neural AI venture, is "augmenting human possibilities".
Vegan burgers can come with BBQ-flavoured meat, thanks to AIThe AI algorithms can help pin down desired flavours in the plant world.
Smallcap raises eyebrows with 1,440% surge in a year. What's cooking?The stock, almost completely owned by retail and high net-worth shareholders, has delivered 1,440 per cent returns since May last year.
South Korea changes how people dine: AI robots negate contact with staff, serve customersFrom order to pick-up, customers don't need a single face-to-face interaction.
Food for thought: McAfee India MD discovered YouTube cooking channels during lockdownVenkat Krishnapur didn't see any dramatic change in screen time during the lockdown.
Vernacular.ai CEO uses Ivy League method to make work from home better & boost efficiencyThe method was introduced to Sourabh Gupta by his mentor.
Baidu Chief Robin Li thinks AI will cut human dependence on mobile phonesLi also said the video as a form of content may become the numero uno form of content: “Video is becoming the main form of content. We used to see text; then more and more images on the Internet. Today, video is the most important form of content on the internet. People’s mindsets are also changing-- changing toward video content.”
Bon appétit! Sony whips up a 'delicious' AI unit, explores cooking-robots and new dishesThe Japanese electronics giant wants a piece of the pie in the food business.
Is Tim Cook a better Apple CEO than Steve Jobs?It’s almost heretical to say that there’s someone greater than Jobs but a new biography argues that his successor is not just a better team leader but also more liberal and ethical
Robotic cook developer, Nymble, raises funding from 021 Capital & WaterBridge VenturesJulia is a domestic cooking robot, it utilises AI and machine learning capabilities to learn about user taste & preference and is capable of cooking most single pot meals.
View: The future of next generation of Indian professionals can’t rest on a fast-depleting cost advantageIn the post-arbitrage world safe-career templates like engineers in IT will not be available for too long.
View: Artificial Intelligence can destroy jobs but sex bots may wreck much moreEmergence of sex robots have the potential to wreck marriages and kill jobs in the oldest profession.
Railways plans major overhaul of catering: airline-like food, modern kitchens, AI module to flag anomalies"The menu would be simple, could be in the form of combo meal, comprising at best two to three items similar to what is served by airlines.High in quality and taste," he told mediapersons here.
IDLI and #chAI are the source code of this AI bondingThese communities like IDLI and #chAI serve a unique purpose in a country like India where AI and machine-learning are still nascent technologies.
Sundar Pichai sings China’s praises in AI, pledges bigger teamNow Google and Facebook are among foreign giants who regularly visit in an effort to curry favour and regain access to the lucrative market.
Internet must have security, humanity: Apple CEO to ChinaIt’s the second Chinese appearance in two months for the executive, who met with President Xi Jinping in October.
Apple car takes an autonomous turnApple had initially been seeking to build its own car, before recalibrating those ambitions last year to prioritise the underlying technology for autonomous driving, Bloomberg News reported.
Siriously Susan: Millions ask her for advice, now meet the voice behind Apple's SiriSusan Bennett, now 67, is a voiceover artist and singer from Atlanta in the US.
Robots may replace 250K public sector UK workers by 2030: ReportThe UK police and other emergency services are already using data to predict areas of greatest risk from burglary and fire, it said.
Apple quietly acquires Hyderabad based AI startup TuplejumpDuring his visit to India, Cook announced plans to set up a design and development startup accelerator in Bengaluru and open retail outlets in the country.
Apple CEO Tim Cook on India, Steve Jobs, missteps and moreTim Cook completed 5 years as Apple CEO late last month. Here are key highlights from a recent interview.Load More
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Twitter Users Are Most Valuable, Reddit Users Not As Much
Reddit announced this week a $300 million funding round from Chinese tech giant Tencent, giving it a $3 billion valuation.
With annual revenue of about $100 million and 330 million monthly active users, that means Reddit is generating about $0.30 per user — much less than social networks including Twitter, Facebook, Snap and Pinterest, CNBC reported.
Twitter, by contrast, has the most valuable users by average revenue. It reported 321 million active users for its latest quarterly report. With annual revenue of about $3.04 billion in 2018, that would make Twitter’s average revenue per user about $9.48.
Here’s the average revenue per user for the main social networks:
- Twitter ARPU: $9.48
- Facebook: $7.37
- Pinterest: $2.80
- Snap: $2.09
- Reddit: $0.30
Reddit’s revenue per user may be much lower than its peers, but it provides access to the valuable younger demographic — a magnet for advertisers. H
Listen to GHOGH with Jamarlin Martin | Episode 44: Jewel Burks
Jewel Burks discusses her M&A process when she sold her tech company, Partpic, to Amazon.
Tencent, which is 31-percent owned by South African internet/media group Naspers, invested $150 million in the Series D funding round. Other investors include Snoop Dogg, Sequoia, Fidelity and Quiet Capital.
Tencent became Snap’s biggest shareholder in 2017. Snap has since shed 40 percent of its value.
Reddit was founded by University of Virginia roommates Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian (husband of tennis superstar Serena Williams‘ husband) in 2005.
Reddit is targeting ad revenue from Facebook and Google, which monopolize most of the ad spend, Huffman told CNBC. “We are competing with anybody, or anywhere people spend their free time.”


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Florida Sheriff: Shoot burglars, save taxpayers money. by Keith Lane. Friday, April 22nd 2022. UserWay icon for accessibility widget.
Read complete post here:Source link
Wanda Beck is a technology reporter who covers the intersection of business and crypto. A native of Boston, Wanda spent almost five years at The Boston25News, where she wrote extensively about the media industry's struggle to adapt to the Internet.
(NEWSNATION) — With inflation continuing to severely impact family budgets, consumer spending expert Andrea Woroch joined NewsNation Prime Saturday to share her tips on how […]
Image source: Getty Images Headed overseas? Here’s how to eke out some savings. Key points Many people are eager to travel overseas this summer. Be […]
The soaring cost of running a car is leading Brits to use their vehicles less, but doing fewer miles means you can save money on […]


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“There’s nothing embarrassing about periods,” says entrepreneur Yanghee Paik, whose feminine care company, Rael, seeks to create safer products for women and the environment.
“What we try to do is empower women to talk about this more openly,” Paik says. “It’s a movement.”
The company wants to take the shame and embarrassment out of conversations around periods, while laying a strong foundation of giving back in their local community. So through its campaign with #HappyPeriod, Rael has also sought to be an ally to homeless women in Los Angeles who are coping with “period poverty.”
Rael says it will donate a period product to a woman in need for every photo shared on Instagram with the hashtag #HappyPeriodsForAll.


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If you go shopping for a new car, truck or sport utility vehicle, you may see, or test drive a model that includes advanced features designed to assist your driving or improve your safety.
From automatic braking systems to forward collision warning features to fully autonomous vehicles, technology continues to come into play in today’s automobiles. How willing are consumers to accept these features?
Poll finds knowledge a key issue for autonomous vehicles
A consumer advocacy group called Partners for Automated Vehicle Education polled some consumers in February and March of this year to assess their comfort level with self-driving cars. In general, the poll found that most consumers lacked complete trust in a fully autonomous vehicle. However, these consumers also indicated that their level of trust may increase if their understanding of the vehicles and underlying technologies increased.
Consumers with limited mobility were found to be more knowledgeable about autonomous vehicle technology. As such, this group voiced a higher level of comfort and trust in self-driving vehicles than did those consumers without mobility concerns. The limited mobility consumers may benefit more greatly from these autonomous vehicles as well.
Driver assistance feature acceptance
PAVE’s poll did discover that more consumers accepted and trusted advanced driver assistance systems than fully self-driving vehicles. More than eight out of 10 owners of vehicles with ADAS features indicated that they had a good knowledge and understanding of how the technologies operated. This knowledge may well contribute to their increased level of trust in these systems compared to the lower level of trust in self-driving vehicles.


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Tremor Video DSP Expands Leadership Team to Drive Growth
Tremor Video Dsp Ceo Lauren Wiener Spoke To Martech Series About The Objectives Of Expanding Leadership Team To Reach New Customer Base
Tremor Video DSP, a Taptica Company, announced changes to its executive team. The company announced three key promotions—
- Anthony Flaccavento has been promoted to Chief Revenue Officer, responsible for the overall revenue achievement and sales process for all of Tremor Video DSP. Flaccavento has been a member of the team since joining in 2011 and most recently he served as Senior Vice President, Sales, running the CPG and retail verticals.
- Abbey Thomas is Tremor Video DSP’s new Chief Marketing Officer, based out of Los Angeles. Thomas brings her 10 years of experience at Tremor to this new role, including establishing the entertainment vertical, and will continue to help the company grow its business and revenue. Thomas previously served as Senior Vice President, Sales, in charge of the auto and entertainment verticals.
- Jay Baum has been promoted to Head of Global Partnerships to oversee all partnership channels including supply and data partnerships. In this role, Baum will work closely to craft ongoing agency business deals, renegotiate data partnerships and drive supply revenues. Baum previously served as Senior Vice President, Agency Partnerships.
New Leadership is a Mix of Talent, Experience and Achievement
We spoke to Lauren Wiener, CEO, Tremor Video DSP, about how the company planned the latest round of executive promotions.
Lauren said, “As a customer centric company, we started our strategic process with planning for how to best serve global advertisers who need to reach and engage consumers who are rapidly migrating from watching live TV on linear devices to watching video on their own time across portable devices and smart TVs.We understand how capturing consumer attention across screens requires a high level of innovation in data targeting and measurement and also requires deep understanding of customer needs to create customized solutions for a range of verticals. “
Lauren mentioned how Tremor Video DSP identified the leadership qualities and personalities to fill their executive roles. She said, “We profiled the type of leaders and cross functional expertise we need to serve these customers, first looking internally to our best in class talent to build our executive team which made our choice evident. Collectively, we put together a highly innovative team with backgrounds from agencies, TV companies and ad tech along with a demonstrated track record driving revenue and unique partnerships, and deep relationships with Tremor Video DSP’s customers.”
Programmatic Rush and Challenges Galore: Tremor Video’s Roadmap
Despite the programmatic rush, brands are yet to fully achieve true ROI from their video inventories. Lauren explained the recurrent challenges facing the industry,, “Consumers are watching hours of video per day via digital sources but there are several challenges in capturing and measuring their aggregate attention in this fragmented landscape, the number one challenge being standardized measurement across all screens.”
Supported by numbers, Lauren took us deeper into the changing landscape of TVs and connected TVs around digital video consumption.”
Lauren identified –
- 82 million households have connected TVs and CTV accounts for 20% of digital video usage. While CTV has both very high viewability and completion rates, Nielson’s reporting for CTV still has some limitations in terms of audience validation for reach and performance due to data inconsistency across devices and apps
- As an industry we are looking to advanced technology to solve the measurement issue via cross device graphs that link device identifiers from CTV to other devices. In addition to improving measuring this will also allow for more granularities in targeting.
Tremor Video 2020: Views on the Chief Digital Officer
Intrigued to know how the Tremor Video DSP team would like in 2020, we asked Lauren if the company is planning to hire a Chief Digital Officer!
Lauren replied—“We are embarking on our next chapter today as a leading global video and mobile DSP with a deep and diversified data bank and data tech capabilities as our core differentiators. We expect the leadership team to look very similar by the end of 2018 as it will at the end of 2020. As a digital centric company, digital DNA is at the core of all 200 employee’s roles, not held within one position solely. With digital overtaking television in spend, I believe, the practice of having digital as a siloed expertise will be extinct by 2020.”
Lauren added, “This is an important time for Tremor Video DSP, after an exciting few months with the announcement of the acquisition by Taptica. With this new leadership team in place, we are accelerating our global strategy and our laser focus on serving the largest TV advertisers seeking to reach and engage consumers across all video screens through innovation in data and technology.”


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BetMGM UK launch campaign rolls out across TV, out of home, digital, social and radio
- Monday, September 25th, 2023
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BetMGM, the newly-launched UK iGaming and online sports betting brand from MGM Resorts International, has unveiled its first advertising campaign, featuring stand-up comedian and actor, Chris Rock.
The campaign features Rock, travelling in a gold speedboat from the Bellagio Fountains to the Thames. It aims to drive awareness of the brand and its ‘golden’ offers and products, with Rock sharing details on price boosts, enhanced bonuses and the free-to-play £2m prize for predicting six correct Premier League scores – ‘Golden Goals’ – as well as exclusive BetMGM content and one of the largest jackpots in the UK; currently totalling £15.4m.
In addition to the hero campaign, which has been developed in collaboration with London-based creative agency Recipe, BetMGM has also produced a responsible gambling ad, dedicated to ensuring consumers keep their play safe.
“We are incredibly excited to launch BetMGM in the UK and give customers something new,” said BetMGM UK Director, Sam Behar. “This campaign leverages the heritage of MGM Resorts’ best-in-class Las Vegas entertainment to deliver a unique proposition to the UK market. Alongside standout promotions and our A-list ambassador Chris Rock, this campaign clearly demonstrates BetMGM’s commitment to bringing a fresh and entertaining approach to the market. It’s showtime!”
The campaign is running across live sport, TV, out of home, digital, social and radio.
Media planning and buying was handled by Tomorrow Advertising and The Media Network.


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This month, we’ll take a look at how the real estate market has been fairing in Belgrade.
From January 1st through August 1st of this year; 134 single family homes have sold in Belgrade at a median sold price of $586,500. Last year, 168 single family homes sold during the same time period at a median sold price of $599,500. Looking back at the first 7 months of 2021: 192 single family homes sold at a median sold price of $508,000. Previously in 2020 and 2019, the numbers were 239 sales at a median sold price of $359,000 and 234 sales at a median sold price of $335,500, respectively.
Looking at condo & townhouse sales; from 2019 to 2020, the number of sales nearly doubled from 57 units in 2019 to 104 in the first 7 months of 2020. Accounting for much of that increase was new construction with 70 of the 104 units being new builds. In 2021, 82 condos & townhouses sold during the same time period. Last year, 59 units sold through the first of August, and this year that number is up slightly with 65 sales. After rising nearly 19% from $283,000 in 2020 to $336,000 in 2021, median sold pricing rose another 20.8% to $406,000 last year. It then rose another 15% this year to $468,900.
The number of new construction single family homes sold via the MLS in Belgrade has continued to taper since hitting a high a few years ago. In the first 7 months of 2020, 96 new construction single family homes sold in Belgrade. That was up from 65 new construction homes sold during the first 7 months of 2019. In 2021, only 33 of the 192 single family home sales posted on MLS were newly constructed, and last year, 23 of the 168 homes sold were newly built. That trend continued this year with only 11 of the 134 single family homes sold on MLS being new construction.
Looking at sales of new construction condos & townhouses, the numbers had been declining for a few years, but were up slightly this year. In 2019, 31 of the 57 condo & townhouse sales were new construction during the first 8 months. In 2020, 70 of the 105 units sold were new construction. In 2021, only 20 of the 82 units were newly constructed, and last year, only 11 of the 59 units sold were new builds. The number is back up this year with 33 of the 65 units sold being new construction.
Sometimes new construction homes sell directly from builder to buyer, without being posted on MLS, so that could account for some of the differences.
Days on market remains low but is up slightly from the past two years. After remaining essentially constant from 2019 to 2020, when it was at 26 and 25 days respectively, the median days on market dropped in 2021 to 5 days, where it remained at this time last year. This year, it’s up slightly at 13 days on market, but is still well below 2019 and 2020.
As usual, I have included data for the number of single-family homes sold in Bozeman during the first seven months of 2023. In addition to the 426 homes sold during this time period, another 96 home sales are currently pending, or under contract, as of the date of writing this article. This compares to 94 home sales pending at this same time last year.
2023 Real Estate Market Data
January 1st through August 1st, 2023
|Total Sales – Bozeman||583||525||413||426|
|Median Sales Price||$540,000||$724,900||$877,466||$886,000|
|Average Sales Price||$655,815||$916,953||$1,161,715||$1,036,148|
|Average Days on Market||59||21||18||43|
|Median Days on Market||21||5||5||16|
Total Sales – Bozeman
January 1st through August 1st
|Year||# Homes Sold|
The included data reflects sales of homes in the greater Bozeman area, including Four Corners, Gallatin Gateway, Bridger Canyon, and Bozeman city limits. The data includes home sales reported through the local Big Sky Country MLS, and does not include private party sales, Condominiums, or Townhouses.
By Tim Ford – Real Estate Broker


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New Delhi: Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday said the chemicals and petrochemicals sector can transform India into a global manufacturing hub with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India, Make for the world’. Addressing the third meeting of the Chemicals and Petrochemicals Consultative Forum, he said that the Indian chemical and petrochemical industry has ample potential to play a vital role in driving the growth of the country. The event discussed the potential plan on petrochemicals presented by the Advisory Forum and also released the report on Understanding Industry Landscape.
Mandaviya calls for creating India’s own model to lead global chemicals and fertiliser market
— ANI Digital (@ani_digital) September 20, 2022
The Union Minister further said that India needs to build its model to lead the global market in chemicals and fertilisers. In his address, he urged the companies and the advisory forum to formulate futuristic strategies that align with the emerging requirements of the global demands. He said India has the potential to rise to the challenge. Let us build our own model of decision making, which is consultative and multi-pronged.
We could have targeted R&D for chemicals to meet the challenges and requirements of niche sectors like MSMEs. He said that the Indian chemical and petrochemical industries have a huge potential and an important role in driving the growth of the country.


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London [UK], Oct. 16 (ANI): Global automobile manufacturer Mercedes-Benz announced that it will recall over 400,000 cars from across the United Kingdom (UK), after incidents of premature deployment of airbags came to the fore.
The luxury car maker announced a recall of A, B, C, E and CLA models, built between November 2011 and July 2017, as suggested by local media reports.
While no casualties were reported on account of the fault that was detected, Mercedes said the clock spring model in the steering column will be replaced, as failing to do so could break it, causing the airbag to deploy at the wrong time.
In a bid to maintain the safety of its consumer base and promote safe driving, Mercedes initiated the recall to replace the steering column module clock spring, which, if broken, could trigger an incorrect airbag warning. Also, if the wiring isn't correctly earthed, the airbag could deploy.
Further details are awaited.(ANI)


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India. February 28, 2023: NDDB MRIDA LTD., a wholly owned subsidiary company of National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) today signed an MoU with Sistema.bio, India’s leading biogas company, to work with smallholder dairy farmers of India and provide sustainable solutions in the area of waste to energy and open avenues of generating additional income. Meenesh Shah, Chairman, NDDB & NDDB Mrida Ltd., and Piyush Sohani, MD, Sistema.bio India graced the occasion.
NDDB Mrida Ltd. and Sistema.bio will jointly work with dairy cooperatives, dairy federations, milk producer organisations, and other farmer- centric institutions to install modern flexi biogas plants for small and medium dairy farmers of India and disseminate knowledge about the same and about manure management and bioslurry applications as well.
Mr. Meenesh Shah, Chairman, NDDB & NDDB Mrida Ltd. said, “We are extremely excited to join hands with Sistema.bio for promoting biogas plants and creating a value chain that will immensely contribute to enhancing the livelihoods of dairy farmers at the same time contribute towards the Swachh Bharat Mission and promotion of green energy. We have first-hand experience working with Sistema.bio while developing the well-known Zakariyapura Manure Management Model which is part of Gobardhan Scheme now.”
The primary objective of this partnership is to improve the socioeconomic stature of dairy farmers, particularly smallholder women dairy farmers, through the usage of biogas plants. Sistema.bio through carbon financing will provide affordable modern flexi biogas plants to dairy farmers in the NDDB’s rural network.
The plan is to reach out to more than 25,000 farmers with biogas plants this year, with a vision to serve 300,000 dairy farms in the near 2-3 years future. NDDB Mrida Ltd. will also promote the usage of bio-slurry produced directly or as an organic fertilizer through the sale of slurry-based products for agriculture in an enterprise mode.
Mr. Piyush Sohani, Managing Director of Sistema.bio India, speaking on the occasion said, “This partnership with NDDB Mrida Ltd. is a perfect synergy of the capabilities and focus of both organisations. We are confident that this initiative with NDDB Mrida Ltd. will successfully help promote organic manure leading to a reduction in the usage of chemical fertilizers as well as endorse clean cooking energy at the rural household level. Our technology has been approved by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India. At present, 40,000 farmers use our biodigesters to create value from waste.”


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After a competitive pitch of nearly three months, AdNews understands the Tabcorp media account will stay split with OMD and Atomic 212.
AdNews reported in June that Tabcorp had called a review of its media business, placing long-term incumbent OMD on alert. OMD has worked with Tabcorp for more than 20 years as its lead media planning and buying agency.
It's thought three agencies were in the running for the whole account win, but the brand has opted to stick with two.
The total ad spend for Tabcorp in the past 12 months was $20.8 million, according to Nielsen figures. This includes $12.1 million for Tabcorp Holdings and $8.7 million for TAB Limited.
In March, Atomic212 picked up the programmatic buying part of the Australian betting company, worth an estimated $10 million.
It's thought Atomic, which was nominated for a Cannes Lion, will still run the digital side of Tabcorp's business, with OMD running the offline and strategy elements.
In April, Claire Murphy was promoted to chief marketing officer after former CMO Mike Smith departed in November last year.
Murphy explained that Tabcorp recently centralised its marketing function with business unit marketing leaders embedded in the company’s three businesses units: wagering and media, Keno and gaming services.
The pitch conclusion is one of many in recent weeks for OMD, which won the $48 million Coles business from UM last month. It also scooped Target. Following a three-month competitive pitch, it also retained the media account for Village Roadshow Limited - a foundation client from OMD’s entry into the Australian market in 2000.
All agencies AdNews approached declined to comment.
Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at firstname.lastname@example.org


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The Recreation Vehicle Industry Association commissioned an Economic Impact Study on the RV industry, released on June 7, 2016. The study found that the RV industry contributes about $49.7 billion in economic output or 0.28 percent of the Gross Domestic Product. Through its production and distribution linkages, the industry impacts firms in 426 of the 440 sectors of the United States economy.
Nationwide, the industry is responsible for 216,170 jobs, both directly and inderectly, creating an economic impact of $37.5 billion. The full study results, along with each individual state and congressional district's economic impact is available on the website by clicking here .
Mon Feb 26, 2018
Airstream has announced the appointment of Mollie Hansen as chief marketing officer, a newly created position. Hansen, previously vice president of marketing for Airstream, will oversee all brand positioning, including advertising, entertainment, retail marketing, external communications, consumer research, partnerships, licensees and corporate social responsibility.
“Mollie is the consumer whisperer,” says Airstream President and CEO Bob Wheeler. “She has an unparalleled understanding of consumers’ motivations and the journey they make toward a purchase. She is a student of the customer's emotional responses during that journey, and how to leverage those feelings to drive action. We are lucky to have her on our team.”
“It’s a privilege to be entrusted as a steward of the Airstream brand,” Hansen says. “For almost 90 years the name has been synonymous with outdoor adventure and unsurpassed quality. I’m deeply appreciative of this new opportunity to share the Airstream story and lifestyle with people across the generations and around the world.”


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Frederick Reimers is a former editor at Paddler and Canoe & Kayak magazines.
For outdoor companies, the money came in exchange for public lands, which raises a serious moral dilemma.
Last October, the biggest draw to Jackson Hole's SHIFT festival—an annual conference aimed at combating the public-lands transfer movement—was a reading by Terry Tempest Williams.
Don’t leave home without a warm winter buddy.
The inside story of how the state’s outdoor recreation czar Luis Benitez landed the tradeshow—and how he plans to save it.
Unplugging Lake Powell is a beautiful dream, but it may hurt the river more than it helps.
Let’s reduce health care costs by getting outdoors, eating better, and pushing for progressive legislation
Air travel is plagued with long, gas-guzzling journeys and through-the-roof ticket prices. You might as well be comfortable.
I like my bags like my architecture: with an open floor plan. That’s why I love Patagonia’s 120L Black Hole Duffel: roomy enough to encompass anything, and tough enough that I never worry about it.
Teton County is known for its endless adventure—and for its tax-haven status and lack of affordable housing. We asked four residents how they make it work.
Love playing on our public lands? It's time to help pay for them.
Outdoor brands are becoming a politically active force. Now that the battle for Outdoor Retailer is over, what's next? We spoke with a dozen industry leaders to find out.
The company is urging thousands of Utah voters to call the Utah governor in support of the new monument.
The short days and snowy roads of winter shouldn't stop you from a classic tour.
You might have seen that Walmart swooped in and bought online retailer Moosejaw for $51 million dollars on Tuesday. So what, if anything, will this mean for the outdoor gear consumer? According to...
Utah's recent federal bills have caused an uproar among outdoor industries. This week, Patagonia announced its withdrawal from the upcoming Outdoor Retailer show, a twice-yearly event in Salt Lake...
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Furniture in events definitely make a great impression and impact on any environment. Serving as functional decor and setting the layout of the space and the flow of the event.
In the latest August/September edition of Event Design Magazine, our Creative Director, Awny contributes to What's Hot in rental furniture:
Rental furniture specialists are on top of the latest trends, materials, and what’s next in this arena, so read on and see what’s hot in rentals, and what everyone will be talking about next year.
What's Hot in Rental Furniture
“In is out and out is in as a design concept. A lot of people are leveraging outdoor furniture indoors with natural organic materials like wicker. When you use it indoors it can become a theme—it adds an element of surprise, you’re not expecting it so you notice it,” says Awny Khashoggi, creative director at Unique Option. Khashoggi says 30 percent of Unique Options’ rentals this year have been for outdoor furniture for indoor use.
Up Ahead. Khashoggi says the event design world is heading toward the use of electronic graphic presentation as the main form of theme delivery, and furniture will reflect that. “You’ll see themes delivered electronically through plasmas and screens, while furniture becomes a functional complement to that theme. Media, furniture, and lighting are the tripod of the future of event design,” Khashoggi says.
CLICK HERE to Check out the full article for more trends and insight..


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Wisdom Bay rises in 3D
The former site of Shanghai’s No. 3 wool textile mill in north Baoshan District has been transformed into the city’s first scientific and cultural complex featuring 3D printing technologies.
The Wisdom Bay site along Wenzaobang River, the city’s third major waterway after Huangpu River and Suzhou Creek, aims to lead another round of industrial revolution, apart from the once prosperous textile business over half a century ago, with the world’s leading 3D printing firms and technologies.
The innovation park at 6 Wenchuan Road has been named Shanghai’s first popular science park. It is home to the world’s only 3D printing museum, over a dozen artists' workshops along with over 300 global companies engaged in 3D printing, intelligent micro manufacturing, virtual reality/augmented reality and artificial intelligence robotics.
Hundreds of old containers have been converted into colorful offices for startup tech firms along the river. Over 15 historical factory buildings have been preserved to become a convention center, cinema, theater, indoor sports fields and wedding halls. Canteens, cafes, flower shops and bakeries operate across the complex.
Peking Opera artist Shi Yihong, pianist Song Siheng and singer Huo Zun have opened their workshops at the park along with other famous local artists.
After four years of renovation and initial stage of operation, the bay has become one of the most popular innovation parks combining work, culture and recreation.
A kindergarten has opened to serve children of company officials and entrepreneurs. Chinese video streaming site Bilibili has set up its electronic sports headquarters at the park.
It has also become an innovation hub for China’s 3D printing technologies, where visitors can learn the latest technologies, while clients can find ideal materials, techniques and solutions.
Four years ago, the 150,000-square-meter riverside site was a derelict container yard with dilapidated factory houses and abandoned containers scattered everywhere, said Zhu Li, curator of the China 3D Printing Cultural Museum.
She accompanied Chen Jian, chairman of Wisdom Bay, on a first visit to the site in late 2015. Chen later decided to take over the site and launched the renovation.
Despite its deserted condition, the bay area has convenient transport links to downtown. It is only a 10-minutes walk to the Hulan Road station on Metro Line 1. Using the nearby South-North Elevated Highway, drivers can reach People’s Square within 30 minutes and Hongqiao airport in 40 minutes, Zhu said.
The site was also one of the last remaining undeveloped pieces of land near downtown, she added.
Chen has taken charge of over a dozen local innovation park development projects, including Changyang Campus in Yangpu District and Peninsula Bay in Hongkou District.
After years of renovation, the Wisdom Bay has become a characteristic park blending science, culture and innovation among its local counterparts, Zhu said.
The park operator has removed walls and fences to open the site to the public. Many residents in the neighboring Gongfu Community have found the park a comfortable place to visit after dinner and at weekends, bringing business to the innovative stores across the park, Zhu said.
The bay has also attracted startup firms. About 20 leading companies on 3D printing, about 10 percent of the nation’s total, are based in the park. XEV, an Italian car maker, has set up its research and development center there. Chinese electric car startup Nio’s delivery center is also at the bay.
They were attracted not only by the industrial heritage ambiance, but also the services the park’s operator was offering.
Several of the worlds’ most advanced 3D printing machines have been purchased at the park. Startup companies, who have no sufficient funds to buy their own, can print out their innovative designs. They are only charged for materials and electricity.
The museum opens its door to companies to introduce key technologies to their clients. The museum also introduces professional visitors interested in certain techniques displayed at the museum to related companies based in the bay, Zhu said.
Thanks to these services, companies based in the bay have seen an average annual rise in revenue of 30 percent. Lesu, a local 3D printing startup firm, increased its yearly revenue by 50 percent in 2019.
The museum has been receiving 200,000 visitors a year from around the world, including students from major Chinese art colleges and clients looking for suitable technologies and materials for their products.
The six-story museum was formerly a warehouse for the Shanghai No. 3 Wool Textile Factory, initially built by Chinese businessmen Zhou Dianyi and Chen Hesheng in 1931. Piles of new textile products were transported onto trucks through a twisted slide, which has been preserved to become the iconic decor of the museum.
Visitors can watch and touch various 3D printing exhibits made with different techniques and materials. On the top floor, they can design a pattern and print it as a ring or necklace in the museum.
The wide applications of 3D printing technologies are showcased in the museum. They range from medical, aerospace, aviation, animation, costume, furniture to automobiles and industrial design.
Outside the museum, a 26.3-meter bridge across a canal in the park was manufactured by experts from Tsinghua University. It resembles the Zhaozhou Bridge, built in north China’s Hebei Province during the Sui Dynasty (581-618) and still used by pedestrians today. Construction of that bridge began in 595 and took 11 years.
In the next step, the operator of the bay plans to convert one of the streets into pedestrian-only to attract more visitors and companies. A container cafe is also about to open along with a museum on coffee culture.


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While virtual reality might have boomed in the past year or so, the reality of it is that the concept has been around for a while now. In fact, one could even consider the View-Master as one of the first few devices to embody the concept of being transported to another world just by looking through a pair of lenses.
However as far as VR efforts are concerned, Oculus founder Palmer Luckey seems to think that devices like the Nintendo Virtual Boy did more harm than good. For those unfamiliar, the Virtual Boy is a wearable device launched by Nintendo back in 1995. Granted it wasn’t strictly virtual reality, but it did share some of its concepts.
According to Luckey, “Not really a VR device, IMO. No head tracking, low field of view, essentially a monochrome 3DTV. A real shame, too, because the association of the Virtual Boy with VR hurt the industry in the long run.” The device was priced pretty high at its time but due to very poor sales, it was discontinued after 6 months.
That being said, it’s interesting to see how far virtual reality has come. One of the criticisms that the Virtual Boy faced was that it induced headaches and motion sickness, something that modern day VR headsets like the Oculus Rift have since addressed.


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ORLANDO, FLORIDA—Mövenpick is hoping to escape what its CEO Olivier Chavy called the “cemetery of brands” during a presentation at Oracle Industry Connect here this morning.
Profit margins in the hotel industry are between 1% and 2%, and are being squeezed by a combination of macroeconomic and industry-specific factors, such as a changing distributor landscape, tighter management agreements, and higher capital requirements for borrowing.
But according to Chavy, hotel operators are under greater threat from organizations like Uber and Facebook, which can leverage platforms to create experiences. He noted that Uber is the world’s largest taxi company yet owns no taxis; Airbnb is the world’s largest hotel company yet owns no real estate. And he sounded a note of alarm, claiming that many in the hotel industry are evolving too slowly to survive. “In the hospitality industry, we are in the age of stone,” he said.
Current “best practices,” such as loyalty programs, may be irrelevant to many customers—as well as expensive to maintain. Research conducted by Mövenpick shows that, for example, younger generations of customers don’t care about collecting loyalty points—they care about personalization. Meanwhile, loyalty points represent “billions of dollars of liability on the balance sheet” of the large hotel chains, Chavy said.
Likewise, long-cherished assumptions have to be cast aside. It was once a truism that hotel guests expected an experience that was “better than home”; millennials, however, want an experience that feels like home. “They don’t want their [in-room] experience to require an MBA to use the technology,” he said.
While technology is critical to continued survival and growth, its costs in the hospitality industry already represent between 30% and 35% of revenue, and it can’t come at a greater expense, said Chavy. Mövenpick is using Oracle Hospitality OPERA Cloud Services to unify customer account management, revenue management, and business information applications, which allows the company to simplify and reduce operating costs, he said. The company also plans to use Oracle cloud technology to improve its understanding of individual customers and do a better job of marketing.
The 70-year-old Swiss hotel and restaurant chain is growing quickly; it has some 30 hotels or resorts planned or under construction. But, said Chavy, “we have to rethink our business model.” For that, he said, Mövenpick will need to rely on cloud technology. “Things will change and fast, and those who are not ready will be in the cemetery of brands,” he said.


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- DTC vitamin and supplements brand Love Wellness has expanded its wholesale presence by launching in more than 1,600 Walmart stores.
- Six of the brand’s top digestive and vaginal health products will be available at Walmart stores, including the cult-favorite Sparkle Fiber, Bye Bye Bloat, Good Girl Probiotics, Gut Feelings Probiotics, The Killer and Flora Power. Walmart also offers 14 Love Wellness products on its company website.
- This marks the brand’s third partnership with a major retailer in four years. In addition to its own website, Love Wellness is also sold through Target, Ulta and Amazon.
As part of the retail expansion with Walmart, Love Wellness is launching “The Summer of Love Wellness” campaign, which brings experiential brand activations to Austin, Texas, on July 20, and Nashville, Tennessee, on Sept. 9. The events will feature live music, gut-friendly drinks and barbecue, areas for photos and videos, and product samples.
"Our retail expansion with Walmart levels up our mission to make clean, doctor-developed personal care products more accessible to the everyday woman," Love Wellness founder Lo Bosworth said in a statement. "I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to educate shoppers about the importance of the gut-vagina connection as they discover our cult-favorite gut and vaginal health solutions in-store."
To date, Love Wellness has sold over one million bottles of its Good Girl Probiotics, according to Bosworth, who announced the Walmart launch with a video on her Instagram page. The brand has shipped 2 million DTC orders through its website and sold more than $100 million of product at retail since 2021, per the company.
Founded in 2016 by Bosworth, a former reality television personality, Love Wellness launched as an online DTC brand. The company expanded into retail outlets during the past four years starting with Ulta and Amazon in 2019. Love Wellness products are now sold in some 4,800 retail doors, per the company, which includes 1,300 Ulta stores and 1,900 Target locations as well as all partners’ websites.
In March of this year Clarins and Nest New York veteran Maria Dempsey was named CEO of Love Wellness, succeeding Bosworth who became chairwoman of the board and oversees execution of brand marketing, product development and retail strategy.


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Network Security Expands in Asia Pacific
Asia Pacific network security vendors are expanding their product and service offerings to include endpoint, application, and content security, as well as secure access, according to a new study from Frost & Sullivan. "Asia Pacific Network Security Market" predicts the market will grow from $920.3 million in 2004 to $2.22 billion in 2011. "While the adoption and penetration of advance security solutions is slow in developing countries due to inadequate infrastructure, acceptance in developed countries is hampered due to market saturation," says Jay Tan, industry analyst and report author. He sees this changing as these countries improve their infrastructures, which will trigger faster growth and the need for enhanced security.
Asia Pacific firms will struggle with the need for security versus the need for ROI, though there will be a need for enhanced security, Tan says. "Such expenditures are justified by emphasizing security threats addressed, rather than desired monetary returns." To meet these security threats vendors are enhancing their products and services. Firewall vendors are increasing the functionalities built into their gateway products, adding intrusion protection/intrusion detection (IDP/IPS) and content security features like antivirus, antispam, and Web-content filtering on a single platform.
"SSL VPNs [secure socket layer virtual private networks] have gained increased acceptance as the technology to use for remote access," Tan says. "End-users are realizing the benefits of the technology and SSL VPN is expected to continue complementing IPSec VPN in VPN deployments. In time end-users may be looking for both IPSec VPN and SSL VPN on a single platform to avoid the need for multiple solutions."
End-users have shifted from purchasing intrusion detection systems to security solutions that combine intrusion detection with intrusion prevention, according to Tan. He adds that vendors are widening their offerings to include application security, content security and other protection to provide a comprehensive security solution to their customers.
"In order to maintain a competitive edge it is vital that vendors constantly look to provide more functionalities on their solutions to cope with the growing security needs of the modern-day enterprise," Tan says. "Vendors are forming strategic alliances, in order to leverage the technological capabilities of other vendors while concentrating in providing best-of-breed solutions in their chosen fields. Major vendors with the financial strength have also been conducting acquisitions of other companies, in order to attain a wider range of solution/technologies in their portfolio."
AOL Launches a New Security Suite
Asia Pacific Contact Centers: Expect Multibillion Dollar Growth


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Remembering Senator Edward Kennedy's role in protecting infant health from Nestlé and others
Press release 27 August 2009
Senator Edward Kennedy, who died on Tuesday 25 August 2009, played a pivotal role in protecting babies around the world from the aggressive marketing of baby food companies such as Nestlé. Though companies continue to contribute to the unnecessary death and suffering of infants through aggressive marketing of breastmilk substitutes, a senate hearing held by Senator Kennedy in 1978 led to a marketing code being adopted by the World Health Assembly three years later, a vital tool for holding corporations to account. Today over 70 countries have introduced the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes and subsequent, relevant Resolutions into national measures and where these are enforced, breastfeeding rates are recovering.
The clip below shows how Senator Kennedy put a Nestlé executive on the spot regarding its corporate social responsibility in conditions where formula feeding can lead to sickness and death.
The Senate Hearings held by Senator Kennedy culminated in a call for there to be a marketing code for breastmilk substitutes, a call that was heeded by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNICEF, which began the drafting process the following year.
Six civil society organisations involved in the first 1979 drafting meeting formed the International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN) to coordinate their activities. Today IBFAN consists of more than 200 groups in over 100 countries and trains policy makers on the International Code and Resolutions and monitors baby food companies against them.
While many company strategies (such as putting baby pictures on labels) have been stopped, other strategies have emerged (notably claiming formula protects against infection and provides other health benefits - see the Campaign for Ethical Marketing action sheets). Nestlé continues to be the worst of the baby food companies, and takes the lead in opposing implementation of the International Code and Resolutions and is one of the most boycotted companies on the planet because of this.
(Right: Nestlé formula in Malawi, one of the world's poorest countries, in 2009. Nestlé claims its formula 'protects', whereas in truth infants fed on it are more likely to become sick and die than breastfed infants).
Mike Brady, Campaigns and Networking Coordinator at Baby Milk Action, said:
The importance of the Senate Hearings organised by Senator Kennedy should be remembered in his obituary. The Hearings are so significant that Nestlé continues to attack them in its public relations strategy against the boycott, currently distributing a pseudo-scientific article that misrepresents what happened. Senator Kennedy helped to bring about the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes which has helped to save lives by stopping corporate malpractice in many countries.
Nestlé is distributing a paper that misrepresents the Senate Hearings held by Senator Kennedy in an attempt to undermine support for the boycott. The paper contains many factual errors and the publishers, the British Journal of Midwifery, gave Baby Milk Action a substantial right to reply - which is not distributed with Nestlé off-print. An exposé, with contemporary documents from the time of the Hearings, can be found in the Your Questions Answered section at: archive.babymilkaction.org/resources/yqsanswered/yqanestle09.html
A new briefing shows how Nestlé has misled George Clooney on the position of the Methodist Church and 'British midwives', untrue claims that Mr. Clooney's office has relayed to those questioning his willingness to work with Nestlé by appearing in Nespresso advertisements.
Baby Milk Action is a not-for-profit organisation and the UK member of the International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN). It is funded by membership fees, merchandise sales and donations, along with grants from development organisations and charitable trusts.
"What do Nike, Coca Cola, McDonald's and Nestlé have in common? Apart from being among the world's most well-known brands, they happen to be the most boycotted brands on the planet. That finding came from this week's global GMIPoll, an online opinion poll that surveyed 15,500 consumers in 17 countries. Nestlé emerges as the most the most boycotted brand in the UK because of what respondents consider its "unethical use and promotion of formula feed for babies in third world countries."
Nestlé won a global internet poll for the world's 'least responsible company' coinciding with the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2005. Nestlé received 29% of the votes. This was more than twice that of joint second Monsanto and Dow Chemicals (of Bhopal infamy), each on 14% ( click here for details ).


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Mahindra & Mahindra today unveiled an updated version of its sports utility vehicle XUV500, with the price starting at Rs 11.21 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).
While the entry level variant W4 is priced at Rs 11.21 lakh, the highest trim W10 comes with a tag of Rs 15.99 lakh. "Today, as we launch the new-age XUV500, we have enhanced the finesse and driving experience while retaining the DNA of the cheetah-inspired XUV500," Mahindra & Mahindra Executive Director Pawan Goenka told reporters here.
The updated version sports added features, including electric sunroof, push button start and 6-way adjustable seats. The Mumbai-based firm had first launched the XUV in September 2011.
"We plan to launch nine products, including two new compact SUVs, refreshes and variants in the current fiscal," Goenka said.
He added that the launch of the new XUV would help the company further strengthen its market share in the segment, where it currently commands some 40 per cent market share.
Asked about the expected growth for the company during the fiscal, Goenka said: "We expect to grow more than the industry which according to SIAM is expected to grow in high single digit during the fiscal."


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NEW YORK, July 31 – British genomics and proteomics company Genetix Group said Tuesday its revenues for the first half of 2001 increased 66 percent to 7.3 million pounds ($10.4 million) compared with 4.4 million pounds in the year ago period, as sales of instruments and consumables rose.
"The first six months of the year have been focused on the long-term growth of the business, through increased investment in R&D and the launch of new products, particularly in proteomics, which will enhance prospects in the coming years," CEO Mark Reid said in a statement.
North America continued to represent the largest market for Genetix of New Milton, UK. Revenues stemming from this region totaled 3.4 million pounds, compared with 2.1 million from Euorpe and 1.9 million from the rest of the world.
During the first half of the year, Genetix launched several new products, including GelPix, an automated eight channel 2-D gel excision instrument used to identify and isolate proteins, QSelect, a clone library management robot, and an automated well plate washer marketed under the name QWash. The company also launched several new consumables for the microarray sector.
Genetix also signed licensing deals with the University of Nottingham and the University of Hertford for a DNA-based mutation detection system and computer software, respectively.
And the company opened new sales offices in Heidelberg, Germany and signed deals with distributors in Israel and throughout Europe. The company is planning to continue expanding its sales force, particularly in the US and the UK.
In the first half of the year, the company posted pre-tax earnings of 2.4 million pounds, compared with 1.7 million pounds in the year ago period. Earnings per share totaled 2.19 pence, compared with 1.96 pence in the first half of 2000.
Genetix did not disclose earnings on a quarterly basis.


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They're nothing more than single-celled algae, but if line extensions are the measure of a category's success, green superfoods are waxing triumphant. Retailers can now carry tablets, granules, powders and extracts of chlorella, spirulina and other algae. Pure Planet, based in Long Beach, Calif., offers not just organic spirulina, but also Hawaiian spirulina, carob-mint spirulina and Purely Greens, a product combining spirulina with cereal grasses. And that's just one manufacturer.
Almost everyone knew someone in the late 1980s or early '90s who was pushing blue-green algae in a multi-level marketing scheme. Its popularity waned for a decade or so, but now supergreens are making a comeback, and this time, it's legit.
"It's resurgent," says Al Ciment, owner of Maplewood Nutrition and Dietary Food Shop in Philadelphia. "Judging by how many [green superfoods] are on the market today, a lot of people must be asking for it."
Indeed they are. While the No. 1 channel is still direct sales, the naturals channel is doing a brisk business as well and has lots of room for growth. In 2003, the category was worth between $110 million and $120 million, representing annual growth of about 20 percent, according to Grant Ferrier, editor in chief of Nutrition Business Journal.
Sun Chlorella USA, which sells about $35 million to $40 million worth of green superfoods annually, according to Ferrier, is the biggest player in the direct-to-consumer channel, with about 75 percent of its revenue coming from direct sales. "The secret of greens has been around for so long," says Janis Van Tine, a spokeswoman for Sun Chlorella. "But it is getting hype. We're seeing a lot of competition." In naturals stores, consumers bought about $32 million worth of green stuff. Earthrise Nutritionals, which makes spirulina products, saw a 15 percent increase in sales in 2004 and is predicting even bigger increases for this year.
Green superfoods have even hit the hip-hop lifestyle. Andre 3000, lead singer of megagroup Outkast, is known for his vegan lifestyle and is also a fan of green smoothies. That's cachet you just can't buy with advertising dollars.
"Right now the most popular are the multi-greens," says Ciment. In particular, he names NOW Green Phyto Foods ("They've got a huge amount of greens and are cheaper than some of the other brands") and Greens Plus. "People seem to want a multi because they want the benefits of all the greens—especially people with the cancer issue and the AIDS issue and the lupus issue." Ciment adds, "They seem to think it helps with the immune system, and people are just hedging their bets by taking it."
Immunity is just one of dozens of benefits that "true believers" attribute to algae. It's also the one with the most science behind it. In 2002, researchers in Japan found that the activity of so-called natural killer cells—the cells that surround and destroy cancer cells—increased in people who took a hot-water extract of spirulina. Older studies had shown a possible link between consumption of spirulina and prevention of oral cancer. In 2003, Canadian researchers found that healthy adults ages 50 to 55 had a better response to flu vaccine if they also supplemented with chlorella. And in 2004, researchers from the University of South Carolina hypothesized that Asians had a low prevalence of AIDS due to their high consumption of algae.
A nutritional powerhouse
Theories about the reasons for the immune-enhancing effect of algae abound. Most attribute it to the nutritional profile of the algae. Both spirulina and chlorella are high in vitamin B12—somewhat unusual in the plant world—and vitamin A. Both are protein-rich (about 60 percent protein, compared with beef's 22 percent) and high in antioxidants. Spirulina also has high levels of gammolinolenic acid, an essential fatty acid that is thought to reduce the body's inflammatory response. Greens also have long been used for bowel, liver and blood cleansing.
However, Sun Chlorella's Van Tine emphasizes the need to use chlorella regularly. "Like any natural product, greens take time. It's not a quick fix. It has to be in your daily regimen," she says. Lance Sigal, division manager of sales and marketing for finished goods at Earthrise Nutritionals, claims that Earthrise's spirulina "helps cleanse but it also puts some nutrients back into the body." That's critical, he says. "Because it's a healthy item, you'd want it to have a balance, a give and take, a certain symbiosis with the body."
And evidence is mounting that these simple organisms, harvested from the warm waters of Mexico, Africa and the western United States, have other health benefits. Spirulina has been shown in at least one study to stabilize blood sugar and ease cravings and could therefore prove useful in the battle of the bulge. It's also been shown in animal studies to lower blood cholesterol and triglycerides. Sigal says a new spirulina blend, to be released this year, supports the respiratory system. "We have eight pages of structure/function claims that we've submitted to the [Food and Drug Administration] over the years that have been 'accepted.'"
Chlorella, too, has its fans. Preliminary evidence shows strong promise for chlorella's use in preventing cataracts that occur as a result of diabetes; for improving the symptoms of fibromyalgia; and for decreasing weight gain and elevated cholesterol in menopausal women.
Van Tine confirms that seniors are one of the target markets for chlorella. "We're getting into the younger crowd, too. People who are working out find they have more energy" after incorporating chlorella into their diets, she says.
Then there's the chlorophyll. Both spirulina and chlorella are excellent sources, but chlorella is believed to have more than any other plant. "It's like hemoglobin," says Van Tine. "Green to plants is like red to blood in humans."
"Chlorophyll does assist in some of the enzymatic reactions in the body," says Jennifer Lovejoy, chairwoman of the nutrition department at Bastyr University, "and [it] provides some nutrients that we get when we eat green products. Is [chlorophyll] an essential nutrient? Not really."
Therein lies the controversy surrounding chlorella, spirulina, blue-green algae and red algae, as well as some of the cereal grasses. These superfoods are touted as the missing component in today's diet, and a brief search of the Internet unearths claims that they improve energy, cure attention deficit disorder and heal wounds. Fans boast of algae's ability to enhance sleep quality and memory. But there's little scientific evidence to back these assertions. "There's no question that some of the claims are total hyperbole," Lovejoy says, "but it is a very rich source of nutrients and vitamins and chlorophyll, [which] probably does have some benefit, particularly if [people] are lacking green foods in their diet."
That's why the supergreens are being touted as fast food for the New Age set. Because of algae's nutritional density, and its ability to be mixed into smoothies or sprinkled on food, people who don't get enough vegetables in their diet can still get their nutritional benefits.
"It's meant to supplement the diet for those who don't eat healthy," says Earthrise's Sigal.
A green education
Those who don't or can't eat right aren't necessarily the consumers attracted to a product that's "green and has a slight odor to it," Sigal admits. The trick is in educating consumers and retailers alike. "People don't know where to start," he says. If they enter a store and see seven facings of Earthrise and five facings of Nutrex and two facings of the store brand, they have no idea which to buy. "It's good for me," he says, "but that's not the way to sell spirulina."
Moreover, once first-time buyers get green superfoods home, they have no idea how to use them. "If it's a green powder, they don't know how to mix it into the smoothie so it doesn't stick to the side of the blender," Sigal says. Because consumers often seek guidance from retail employees—who have varying levels of knowledge—Earthrise offers retailers a self-study program, with a manual that breaks out the features and benefits of spirulina. "It sells the product more than the name," Sigal says.
The company also plans a major consumer advertising push this year, Sigal says. "We don't want to be known as snake oil. We made a decision to renew our commitment to education" about the science behind supergreens.
Beyond St. Patrick's Day
While further research is needed on their health benefits, the popularity of supergreens can't be denied. In 2000, Robert's American Gourmet, best known for its Pirate Booty snacks, produced Spirulina Spirals before the FDA cracked down. "The real question revolves around whether spirulina is a food or a food additive," says Mark Blumenthal, executive director of the American Botanical Council. Robert's took one for the team, though—spirulina has since been Generally Recognized As Safe by the FDA.
"We are GRAS'd," says Sigal. "It is out there and it is being used" as an ingredient in foods. In fact, Greens Plus manufactures energy bars with added green foods. Odwalla and Naked each have a bottled smoothie that uses spirulina, chlorella or blue-green algae. Henderson, Nev.-based No Guilt Chocolate manufactures five different bars, each with a distinct health benefit. The company's Happy-Girl bar, marketed as an antidote to PMS, takes "the satisfaction and decadence of premium gourmet chocolate" and adds spirulina, roasted edamame and ground flaxseed, according to No Guilt's Web site. New Zealanders can buy Griffin's Vitalife Well Grain Multigrain Crispbread in three different flavors, one of which is Garlic & Spirulina. Europeans have access to a German beer enriched with spirulina as well as vitamins A and D, protein and iron. The brew is touted for its anti-aging effects. Finally, green beer isn't just for St. Patrick's Day anymore.
Natural Foods Merchandiser volume XXVI/number 2/p. 24, 26


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Stung by India’s GM regulation, Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company looks to other countries
Mahyco is planning to take its research and new technology on GM seeds out of India owing to lack of clarity about the GM regulation in India.
India drags feet on GM mustard permit amid powerful opposition
Environment ministry's Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee has deferred approval despite a panel had given technical clearance to genetically modified mustard.
Widespread use of unapproved GM cotton shows official tolerance of illegality
India has tough laws and regulations for approval of GM crops b...
Anti-GM crop activists urge 'supreme objectivity'
The anti-GM activists asked Vardhan to reject GM mustard, claiming it is a "hazardous scientific fraud" being perpetuated on the nation.
'Will promote GM crops if green ministry approves'
New Delhi, May 22 (IANS) Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh on Monday indicated that his ministry will endorse the production of Genetically Modified (GM) crops if they are approved by the Environment Ministry.
GM crop regulator okays commercial use of GM mustard
India's GM crop regulator today recommended the commercial use of genetically modified mustard in a submission to the environment ministry, a top ministry official said.
India in no hurry to grow GM food crops
Several stakeholders, including Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) affiliates Swadeshi Jagran Manch and Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, have expressed opposition to GM food crops.
No policy decision yet on GM mustard crop: Centre tells SC
SC granted the government one week's time to apprise it as to by when it will take an "well-informed and well-intentioned" policy decision on the roll out.
Will take policy decision on GM mustard crop, Centre tells Supreme Court
Earlier the bench had granted time to the Centre to apprise it as to by when it will take a "well-informed and well-intentioned" policy decision on the roll out.
Conflict of interest in appointment of GEAC members: Parliamentary panel
The committee expressed its concerns about the "ad hocism" in the constitution of the committee and also about the criteria adopted by the environment ministry.
Niti Aayog backs GM seeds, suggests reform in MSP mechanism
Indian farmers have adopted the GM seeds by growing BT cotton, the only crop allowed for commercial cultivation.
Pollution in Delhi: Why Diwali is just a part of the problem
Last year, air quality was in the “severe“ category in the festive season, with an AQI of 443 on October 30 (Diwali day).
Ex-Cabinet secy 'regrets' over introducing GM cotton in India
"In 1990s, I introduced GM cotton in India. Twenty years later, I regret...I am responsible for suicide of thousands of cotton farmers," Subramanian said.
Supreme Court asks government to apprise it about any adverse impact of GM mustard crop
The court had on July 17 asked the Centre to take a "considered" view before taking a policy decision on the commercial release of the crop.


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Beyond notebooks: The new school supplies
Hand sanitizer. USB flash drive. Magenta Sharpie. Clean socks. Quick — what do they have in common?
Answer: They're probably going to be in your kid's backpack when school begins.
Thanks to the onslaught of kid-focused marketing and the growing presence of technology in children's lives, perennial favorites like yellow No. 2 pencils and thick pink erasers have become so last semester.
School-supply basics face competition from a growing array of products tricked out in bright colors and camo prints or plastered with the likeness of everyone from Spider-Man to those ubiquitous kids from "High School Musical."
"It's fair to say there will always be room for a No. 2 pencil," says Target spokesman Joshua Thomas. "But what's happening is that these classic back-to-school supplies are evolving."
In addition, the list of supplies considered vital has grown, says Barb Kapinus, senior policy analyst for the National Education Association. Items that didn't exist when most of today's parents were climbing aboard school buses — tiny, portable hard drives and scented hand sanitizer — now make the list in many places.
Whether teachers send home exhaustive wish lists or ask only for simple supplies, shopping lists have grown in school districts around the country, says Jennifer Olson, assistant professor of education at Meredith College in Raleigh, N.C., and mother of two school-agers. Retailers add further fuel by offering their own exhaustive back-to-school shopping lists, broken down by age group from preschool through college.
Here are some items that will likely be on those lists:
- Writing tools: Pens and No. 2 pencils come in a mind-numbing variety of styles aimed at school-age kids (think pencils emblazoned with motivational phrases like "Great Job!" and pens topped with tiny screens that scroll through images of Hannah Montana). They may also need washable crayons, colored pencils, washable markers, highlighters, dry erase markers and permanent markers. (Even those utilitarian Sharpies, long used by moms to write kids' names in their gym shorts, have become cool — now endorsed by soccer god David Beckham, Sharpies in shades such as lime or magenta can be personalized with a student's name, catchphrase or clip art.)
- Cut and paste: Classic bottles of Elmer's Glue are still popular, but glue sticks are also in demand. Scissors (the ones you weren't supposed to run with) are still a must, but they've gotten a facelift, too. Now, says Olson, "they have left handed or other special scissors to help kids master cutting."
- Doing the numbers: Calculators, restricted by some schools, come in a huge range of styles and capabilities, from cute pink ones for basic math to graphing calculators for trigonometry. Compasses, protractors and rulers are still around. But even those have been tweaked — Office Depot offers a flexible ruler and protractors come in vivid hues.
- Data devices: Spiral notebooks and loose-leaf paper aren't the only methods for recording information and transporting work to and from school anymore. Flash drives (also known as jump drives) and CDs can be a necessity for older students. Index cards and post-it notes also make many must-have lists.
- Germ battling: Are schools more germy than they were a generation ago? Parents seem to think so — or marketers have convinced them it's better to be safe than sorry. Hand sanitizer, hand wipes and packages of tissues are now standard issue.
Unusual elements like clean socks (for erasing white boards) and zip-top plastic bags (for bringing things home) make many lists as well.
It's hard to know whether the trendiest school supplies will help kids focus on their work or serve as a distraction. Some districts advise against anything but the plainest supplies. But the NEA's Kapinus believes in using "this whole celebration of starting a new school year" with new school supplies to reinforce the importance of learning.
What is clear is that the pressure on parents to buy a slew of slickly designed supplies shows no sign of lagging, despite difficult economic times nationwide. In the back-to-school area at Target, says Thomas, "literally, it seems limitless what you can find, what you can do with a pencil box."
Bill Jackson, president of the nonprofit parents' advisory group GreatSchools.net, says parents struggling with lengthy lists "shouldn't feel the pressure to have to keep up with the Joneses with this stuff. ... Whether they bring the brand name pencil or crayon is less important than whether they bring their kid generally prepared for school."


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|My First Teleprompter|
Two exciting and educational new Fun With Barack™ toys will be released later this summer, with several additional models being released before the Christmas shopping season.
The hope is that if children have these creative toys to play with, they can emulate their role model, and perhaps someday aspire to the same high level of achievement as President Obama has accomplished.
The first model in the Fun With Barack™ series will be My First Telepromter™ and will encourage small children to develop language skills. This toy will help children aged 3-8 to overcome their fear of public speaking and help prepare them for future careers in public service and politics.
The second model, which will be released simultaneously, will be "Lets Play Golf!™" This fun toy will allow children aged 5-10 to enjoy playing president by simulating President Obama's daily workload.
With this highly creative and entertaining toy, children can go out on their imaginary golf course (usually a back yard) and face the daily rigors of playing challenging holes and battling devious sand traps.
|Lets Play Golf|
It will provide the perfect opportunity for them to play "Take Some Stimulus Money, The Taxpayers Won't Care."
The Lets Play Golf™ cart is powered by a 6 volt rechargeable battery and is Eco-friendly and appropriately recyclable so they can be "green."
The Fisher-Price Corporation is a subsidiary of Mattel Toys Inc. Five percent of the proceeds from the sale of these toys will go to the Barack Obama Reelection Committee.


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The Denver-based telephone company Qwest is the target of a lawsuit alleging the company reneged on a business agreement.
Hamid Ansari of Plano, Texas filed the lawsuit yesterday in U-S District Court in Denver.
Ansari says Qwest persuaded him to buy 20 (m) million dollars worth of transmission capacity on its global fiber-optic network in June 2001 after promising to order more than 33 (m) million dollars worth of telecom gear from Ansari's employer.
Ansari says Qwest backed out, resulting in the pending claims of fraud, breach of contract, unjust enrichment and breaking federal
Qwest declined to comment.


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This paper looks at the emergence of the canned fruit and vegetable industry in New South Wales, and at its progress in recent years.
In March 2013 Windsor Farm closed its canning operations at Cowra, with the loss of 70 jobs. Apart from Billabong Produce’s relatively small tomato canning operations at Jerilderie, the only major producer of canned vegetables remaining in NSW is Simplot at Bathurst (principally processing sweet corn). Simplot, in turn, has stated that it too might consider closing its operations because of the current “very competitive food industry environment”.
This e-brief looks at the emergence of the canned fruit and vegetable industry in NSW, and at its progress in recent years. It is part of the wider industry of fruit and vegetable processing which, in turn, is part of the food manufacturing sector. Food manufacturing is the largest single component of the manufacturing sector. The broad issues around food production and manufacturing can be considered in light of the National Food Plan.


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Earlier this month, former Mayor Jim Sells listed the historic town of Grantville for sale on eBay, and he had no idea that his listing would receive the volume of attention it got.
“The phone is ringing off the hook and we’re enjoying it,” says Sells, who listed Grantville at a mere $680,000.
The small historic town has but just nine buildings, which include: a hair salon, a church, a pharmacy, and empty retail spaces.
Bought by Sells out of foreclosure during the 2008 recession, he explains how Grantville residents want to see the downtown space redeveloped again and brought back to life, a vision which is not far off.
Although it may seem like an old abandoned town as of present, Grantville has been a recent hot spot for movie and television producers alike; with one of the most popular The Walking Dead episodes, “The Clear”, being filmed there.
Patti Palmer, Downtown Development Authority Chair, stated that she wants whoever buys the property to maintain its small town charm.
“I would love to see a lot of independent businesses come in,” said Palmer. “Whether it’s a restaurant or a store that creates a heartbeat for downtown. I think that would be… I think that would set the whole thing on a great path.”
If you are new to Georgia, Peachtree City movers suggest that you take your family to see the remnants of The Walking Dead episode, through one of Sells’ tours, every day at 2 p.m.


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By Jacob Phillips, Local Democracy Reporter
An Oxford Street souvenir shop has been raided after allegedly trying to sell £100,000 worth of counterfeit goods – including 4,500 dodgy vapes.
Fake Apple Airpods, USB chargers with no safety labelling and fake PlayStation controllers were found in the latest crackdown on “souvenir shops”.
Westminster City Council officers, working with the Metropolitan Police, found 4,500 disposable vapes with excessive levels of nicotine. Police also removed 23 products which contained cannabis, for testing.
Pictures of the raid show 43 bags worth of illegal and fake goods stacked on the shop’s floor.
A further 420 counterfeit vapes and 2,366 Snus tobacco products were also confiscated.
More than 1,500 counterfeit goods worth more than £22,000 were removed from another tourist shop in Oxford Street on March 29.
Raj Mistry, in charge of city management at Westminster City Council, said the raid showed the local authority’s commitment to keeping Westminster clean and safe.
He said: “We are putting these questionable traders on notice that they will not be tolerated in our city.
“We’ll continue to take action against such unsafe trading activities in order to keep our residents and visitors safe.
“We will not allow those selling illegal or counterfeit goods in Westminster to keep up such unsafe practices.
“Sooner or later we will identify such illegal trading and we will seek prosecutions and the maximum fines.”
Assisting in the raid was John Dunne, head of the Westminster based UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA).
He said: “Trading in a safe and compliant manner is at the heart of our organisation’s values.
“As a body we work closely with Trading Standards officers across the country to get rid of these rogue sellers, which give our industry as a whole a bad name.
“It is important to ensure adult consumers can purchase safe products while also keeping them out of the hands of young people.
“We can offer extensive product knowledge, training and tools to officers as well as liaising with brand owners directly in the UK and China to identify items being sold that are fake – and hopefully that will aid in any criminal charges.
“We look forward to working very closely with the Westminster team in the future.”
Pictured top: Some of the goods in the shop (Picture: Westminster City Council)
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Former Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick has encouraged everyone in the country who can afford to do so to buy a newspaper, and told the Downing Street press briefing: “A free country needs a free press, and the newspapers of our country are under significant financial pressure”.
So if you have enjoyed reading this story, and if you can afford to do so, we would be so grateful if you can buy our newspaper or make a donation, which will allow us to continue to bring stories like this one to you both in print and online.


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FORT ATKINSON (WKOW) — Wisconsin cannabis laws continue to confuse businesses and law enforcement alike. Most recently, Fort Atkinson Police posted two conflicting messages on the department Facebook page.
On Monday, they posted a warning for businesses that sell products containing CBD oil, stating it is illegal and the sale of those products could result in a fine.
Tuesday afternoon, police seemed to backtrack, stating CBD oil from hemp is legal in Wisconsin and officers won’t write any citations.
Those who sell CBD oil, like Brian Seamonson, say they’re used to dealing with this confusion. Seamonson said he’s fortunate police and community members in Deerfield have been welcoming of his business, The Hemp House.
Since it opened six months ago, Seamonson said his business hasn’t had any trouble with law enforcement, though his credit union told him it would cancel because it wasn’t confident his business was legal at the state and federal level.
Still he said he considers himself lucky his business has maintained a good relationship with police.
“Last week, a customer came in from Fort Atkinson and said the Fort Atkinson Police Department was making any stores selling CBD, that they need to take them off their shelves in their town,” Seamonson said. “But they can drive 25 minutes to Deerfield and nobody has a problem with it.”
The Fort Atkinson Police declined an interview about the post. Within it, they cite “Lydia’s Law” as their justification for the possible fines. The law allows the use of CBD oil only for medical purposes with a prescription.
According to Larry Konopacki, the general counsel for the Wisconsin Hemp Alliance, that law is still on the books but newer laws mean it no longer prohibits the use of CBD oil.
“The fact that Lydia’s Law still exists leads to a lot of confusion,” he said.
Konopacki helped write Wisconsin’s new laws surrounding CBD oil, which legalize it in the state provided it comes from hemp, not marijuana and it contains less than 0.3 percent THC.
“The pilot program was adopted a couple of years ago and really made this legal at the state and federal level,” he said.
Even so, Konopacki said Fort Atkinson is far from the only department that’s struggled to understand what’s legal when it comes to CBD.
He said the state Legislature and the Attorney General’s Office is working to clarify these laws but until then, those like Seamonson said their businesses will continue to face misunderstandings.
“That’s the problem,” he said. “It’s really confusing.”
While the Fort Atkinson Police Department has appeared to change its stance through its updated post, Konopacki said there’s still some confusion about their claim the Jefferson County District Attorney is interpreting CBD oil from hemp as illegal.
The Jefferson County D.A.’s office declined to comment to 27 News.


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Nearly an entire block of Cass Avenue at Canfield will be renovated into a mixed-use green-friendly development offering apartments and retail spaces -- aiding a severely tight rental market in Midtown.
The $12 million Auburn development, which broke ground last week, is being developed by the Roxbury Group
and partners Invest Detroit
and Midtown Detroit Inc
. Fifty eight one-bedroom and studio apartments, beginning at $675, are scheduled to be available by fall 2012. All feature French balconies, individual parking spaces and two shared outdoor common spaces; one with glass garage doors and a built-in outdoor fireplace.
The Auburn was also built with a sensitivity to green design, says Roxbury's James Van Dyke -- Tom Brennan of Second Avenue's Green Garage
aided the group in conceiving a building with an environmentally-friendly layout, especially with the Auburn's heating and cooling capabilities. "For example, we've decided use very efficient (and Michigan-made) windows which have double the performance of typical apartment windows," says Van Dyke. "Further, we are planning to install the Mitsubishi City Multi VRF HVAC system which provides for increased modulation and efficiency." Detroit-based Kraemer Design Group
is the architect of record for the project.
Thanks to a grant from the Ford Foundation
, retail spaces will be "tenant-ready," offering would-be entrepreneurs a lower point of financial entry for opening retail on the Auburn's first floor. Van Dyke says the 11 first-floor spaces will be reserved for independent retail only.
"It's subsidizing the cost of build-out space, so a local independent retailer could literally come in, and plug their cash register and start selling goods," Van Dyke says. "We're actually going to go out in the marketplace with pretty inexpensive space to try to reduce the capital required for an entrepreneurial retailer to start a new location."
Find out more about the project here
Source: James Van Dyke, vice president of development, The Roxbury Group
Writer: Ashley C. Woods


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HOUSTON – The key of the last Blockbuster in the world is being handed over.
The last Blockbuster store, located in Bend, Oregon, will soon be available for overnight reservations on Airbnb, the vacation rental company announced Tuesday.
Starting August 17, some lucky movie lovers living in the Bend, Oregon area will be able to book one of the three one-night stays available for up to four for just $ 4 per night, according to listings of Airbnb.
“Over the past few months, we have missed regular visits from friends, neighbors and tourists from all over the world. So we are opening our stores to the three secluded Deschutes County to watch a movie night away from society, just like decades ago, ”the list says.
The specific area restriction is due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Sandi Harding, host of Airbnb.
The blockbuster will host up to three groups to quarantine Deschutes County guests for a film night away from society September 18-20.
After the last guests check out, Blockbuster will welcome customers back to view the living room space for a limited time in the store.
Copyright 2020 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.


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UK manufacturing output has grown 3% since the EU referendum but one economist believes it should have grown by around 11% suggesting the links between the UK and European industrial sectors is already weakening.
Activity in the UK manufacturing industry has picked up since the Brexit vote in June 2016, although the slow pace of growth thus far has left economists scratching their heads.
The relationship between manufacturers in the UK and Europe is also changing, with economists at Bank of America Merrill Lynch observing a breakdown in the connection between activity in mainland Europe and that in the UK - which makes future output that bit more difficult to predict.
August’s Confederation of British Industry industrial trends output index delivered the highest level on record for the series since records began in 1995; this should mean manufacturers are dealing with order levels not seen for more than two decades.
“After detracting from growth in 2Q it [manufacturing] will likely add modestly to the 4Q. Manufacturing is only 10% of GDP, but if August’s improvement was the start of a trend, it could help UK GDP,” says Robert Wood, an economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
But the rub for economy watchers is that the contribution to GDP growth from the manufacturing industry has been underwhelming since the referendum.
Historical links between sentiment-focussed PMIs (purchasing managers indices) and actual output from the sector suggests UK manufacturing production should have risen by around 11% in the year or more since the referendum says Wood.
Instead, it has risen by just a little over 3%, prompting some to question whether the double digit fall in the exchange rate since June 2016 will ever yield a competitive advantage for British industrial firms.
“It turns out that not only are the surveys potentially consistently responding to news in different ways to the hard data, but the hard data relationship with its determinants appears to have fundamentally changed since the Brexit vote,” says Wood. “It appears that vote may have changed the response of trade to demand and the exchange rate.”
Wood notes that the CBI industrial trends survey has historically been more than twice as responsive to the exchange rate as the IHS Markit PMI surveys. It has also been about 50% more responsive than the hard data.
“Since the Brexit vote hard-data on manufacturing output have diverged to an almost unprecedented extent from the simple model we estimated above,” says Wood. “Sterling weakness and world demand strength ‘should’ be boosting manufacturing output, but it isn’t. So what is going on?”
Changing Relationship with Europe, or with the Value of Sterling?
Wood notes that UK manufacturing output has become less and less sensitive to Euro area output since 2015, while CBI and PMI survey data has become doubly responsive to changes in the exchange rate and UK consumer confidence.
“Manufacturing growth in those two economies is usually tightly linked, reflecting the integrated supply chains across the EU and the large single market,” says Wood. “One possibility is that the potential of Brexit has had impacts on supply chains already.”
UK manufacturers’ relationships with other firms in Europe could already be changing in response to the Brexit vote in that Euro zone firms may have been less inclined to increase the level of business they do with UK firms since the Brexit vote, for fear of disruption later on.
“Incremental demand experienced by non-UK EU firms may be increasingly passed to other non-UK EU suppliers, rather than UK suppliers, where possible,” says Wood. “In other words, manufacturers may not yet be reducing their presence in the UK, but they have less incentive to expand it than they used to.”
This would explain UK manufacturers having missed out on much of the upturn in Euro zone activity in the last year. But another theory mooted by Wood is that UK manufacturers have become less sensitive to changes in the value of Sterling.
“We may be mistaking reduced responsiveness to Euro Area demand for reduced responsiveness to sterling. Time will tell, of course, but the evidence, such as it is, suggests to us a structural break,” says Wood.
Such desensitisation is possible. Particularly when one considers that, as much as a lower Sterling might help to make British products more attractive to buy, exporters are being pinched by a simultaneous increase in import costs to the extent that one may be offsetting the other.
“For that reason, we do not expect manufacturing output growth to pick up materially: in fact, it may worsen if these Brexit effects we discuss intensify,” Wood concludes.